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Ernie, Ex-Playground Star

John Grey

Ernie’s knees creak
and his sciatica is a dagger.
But, three on three,
shirts versus skins,
he still wants to dominate,
to put it over the other guys,
the ones with better jobs,
happier family lives,
because that’s how
it was thirty years ago.
And that’s how it has to be now.

His hands may hurt.
But they’re ready to receive.
“Get me the ball, Lamar!”
he shouts as he staggers up the court.

Somehow, the ball ends up
in his hands, and he takes five steps,
elbows Kenny (overweight grocery store owner) aside,
throws up an airball and curses.
The only spectator, a kid about ten years old,
laughs as Ernie collapses in pain.
“I’m okay,” he says
as the others gather around his fallen frame.

They lift him up,
get him into the back seat of his car.
Lamar drives.
Tony follows.
It’s the first time in thirty years
that they’ve seen the place where Ernie lives.
They once thought he didn’t live anywhere.

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